


Official Love

by Phantoms_Echo



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adorable Tony Stark, Artist Steve Rogers, Businessman Steve Rogers, Complete, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Most un-subtle confession ever, Oblivious Tony Stark, Oneshot, Power Dynamics, Programmer Tony Stark, Tony's Facial Hair (character), Unless you're Tony Stark, Web Comics, tiny bit of crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 02:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7489710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantoms_Echo/pseuds/Phantoms_Echo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is a genius programmer, technician, and future overlord... unless you talk his coworkers at Shield. They would tell you that, for as smart as that man is, he is as oblivious as a rock when it comes to a crush from his boss. Poor Steve.</p>
<p>Enter the therapeutic power of web comics. Yeah, you read that right. Web comics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Official Love

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of Marvel's characters or settings or (insert random Marvel trademarked here) and I do not make money off this. I'm just having a fun time writing.
> 
> So, name could use work, but I ain't changin' it. I came up with this idea, wrote it up in about three hours (including editing, but feel free to point out mistakes) and decided to post it. It's my first time publishing in this fandom, but not altogether. Enjoy!

"Morning, Clint." Tony said as he threw a new set of files down onto his desk.

"Morning, Tony." the brunette answered as he aimed a rubber band and fired. Across the cubicle hall, a redhead was pouring over her laptop when all of a sudden, her hand snapped up and caught the rubber band. She turned, ever so slowly, to glare at the owner. Clint and Tony deftly hid behind the cubical wall.

"You really shouldn't aggravate Natasha, Birdbrain." Tony hissed as he turned on his computer.

"And you should stop poking the Bear, shave that beard off already." Clint hissed back as he swung his chair back to work on a notepad. Tony didn't actually know what Clint did, aside from draw random geometry and trajectory lines. Tony was only interested enough to point out mistakes to the man from time to time in his formulas, but other than that, Clint's job was –to quote "Quite boring" (said the man himself when he expressed his love of archery, but inability to make a living off of it).

Tony, on the other hand, was a programmer.

"Wakey-wakey, Jarvis." Tony ordered as he set his coffee mug onto the desk next to him.

" _Good morning, Sir_." A voice answered from his computer speakers.

"Jarvis," Clint ordered, "23rd digit of pi."

" _Six, Mr. Barton._ " The reply came without any hesitation.

"That will never cease to amaze me." Clint laughed as he turned back to his work.

" _Thank you, Mr. Barton._ " Tony rolled his eyes at their exchange.

"Okay, Jarvis, we've got a lot of work ahead of us." Tony said, cracking his knuckles, "I've got a couple presentations too, so let's get some music going. I have a board to impress. "

"Not," A cold voice said, "without headphones,  _Tony_."

A shiver went down the brunette's spine as he looked up into dark eyes. "Oh Natasha, harbinger of death, you know I would  _never_  tempt fate!"

The redhead rolled her eyes and dropped a set of earbuds onto Tony's keyboard. "If that were true, your goatee would have disappeared the second you started working here."

"My goatee is a work of  _art_." Tony defended. "I work endlessly to sculpt it into the beautiful masterpiece you see before you."

"And it is entirely against dress code regulations." Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Whoever made those regulations just wanted to kill all sources of joy and happiness that occur in the workplace." Tony protested. "Therefore, I am boycotting all unfair dress code regulations."

"Starting  _when_?" Clint demanded, turning to face the two.

"Starting now."

Clint rolled his eyes. "You already follow every regulation  _except_  for the beard and we  _know_  why."

"What?" Tony squinted at the other brunette. "What are you talking about?"

"You are just doing it to get the director's attention." a new voice said, a face appearing over the other cube wall. "We all know you have a crush on Steve.”

"Pepper! How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" Tony looked down-right betrayed. "I confided my utmost displeasure for the man and you join in with these two about some fabricated emotion as if to convince me of what  _you know_  is a lie!"

"What you say sober and drunk are two different things, Tony." The strawberry-blonde cocked a smile at him before straightening. "Boss alert, 3 o'clock. Just on his first cup of coffee."

Immediately, Pepper ducked down and Natasha disappeared in that scary fast way she was known for. Clint was acutely absorbed in his work, so that left Tony fumbling with the earbud jack.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.

"Good morning, Clint." The boss, AKA Steve Rogers, greeted with a kind smile before looking over at Tony with an air of disappointment. "Tony."

"Hey, Mr. Rogers." Tony greeted flippantly, abandoning his task. "How are you doing this  _lovely_  Tuesday morning?"

"I thought I told you to get rid of that beard, Stark." the director said, voice weary.

"But Steve-o!" Tony whined, "It's my message to the world! It's who I am! Who I always wanted to be! It is such an integral part of me that no razor could ever-!"

Steve, who had taken to rubbing the bridge of his nose with a pinched expression, interrupted sharply, "I don't have time for your antics today, Stark. Just get it shaved."

With that, Steve continued on his morning rounds. Unable to help himself, Tony rolled his chair over so he could watch as the blonde walked away.

"To-tal crush." Pepper repeated in three succinct syllables.

Tony scowled at her and continued work on his most recent project. 

*          *          *          *          *

"Home at last!" Tony threw his computer bag down onto the couch and promptly followed, sprawling over the piece of furniture. "Jarvis, _Official Love_ , pronto."

" _Of course, Sir._ " the voice came from speakers hidden around the house.

Tony had made Jarvis, first and foremost, for his home use. The AI was integrated into every portion of his home and acted as both a caretaker and event planner where Tony's life was concerned. Some might think he was relying too much on technology, but they would never have known where Jarvis actually came from. Tony quickly brushed away memories of a house too big for a small child and a butler that took his job far and beyond to care for the small boy.

" _Your reading material, Sir._ " 

"Thank you, Jarvis." Tony replied, picking up the skeleton of a tablet. He was currently working on some portable hologram devices, the tablet being one. He was trying to figure out how to get his entire house outfitted with the tech, but it was slow going.

"5 o'clock." Tony said to himself as the new file popped up. "Right on time."

_Official Love_  was a romantic comic of two office workers, a boss and his subordinate. Well, 'romantic' was a strong word for it. 

The story goes that the boss and the employee don't get along,  _at all_. The employee comes in with crazy suits every day, something that -while technically appropriate -doesn't fit the dress code of the serious business in the least. The boss confronted the employee the day he began work, but the employee ignored him and continued to wear crazier and crazier suits as time went on.

Every day, the boss would reprimand the employee and every day, the subordinate would ignore him. 

Everyone in the office thought the boss hated the difficult employee, but honestly? The boss had a crush the size of a mountain (in Tony's humble opinion). The daily reprimand was his only excuse to talk to the employee without raising suspicion. After all, it may be modern times, but office romances were still considered taboo.

There were a few other characters like the Red Twins that were the real ones to run the department, a showy civil engineer that used the college lessons of torque and wind resistance to annoy his fellow workers with (hideously accurate) paper airplanes, and, of course, the boss' best friend, a sergeant fresh back from a tour (Tony had missed that character). It made for a funny, well-rounded cast and an enticing story.

The first publication was, in fact, a month after Tony had first started working at Shield Industries, though he hadn't known about it until after the sixth month mark. He had found it by accident, having seen it up on a random computer at Shield (at a desk belonging to a guy that played Galiga all day). He had been intrigued, and curious.

So started the three day reading binge.

Ever since then, Tony was quick to look up new updates (every Tuesday at 5 o'clock sharp) and had faithfully followed the works of SGR Productions for a year now.

This week's update contained the usual argument about the suits, Thomas Santino (Tom for short) going on a  _beautiful_  rant about how his suits were a gift to the world and were not meant to be hidden away. Samuel Ray, the boss, having to force himself to listen instead of just watching the way Tom's lips moved and responding in the appropriate manner (Tony almost felt sorry for him, and yet...).

Each chapter was only about five pages long, on the shorter end of web comics, but the detail put into each page more than compensated for the limited content.

This chapter focused on Samuel and a board meeting that he had to partake in due to his position, something that reminded him once again why Tom was out of his reach. Even if Tom liked the poor guy (Who was actually pretty hot in Tony's opinion), the difference of their status would prevent any sort of fair relationship. If Tom ever wanted to leave, he would feel trapped in a relationship with his boss because, simply,  _he was his boss_.

Tony wasn't sure who he felt sorrier for, the boss man who had been carrying this crush for months now, unable to say anything, or this other bloke who didn't have a clue what was going on.

Once he had finished reading, Tony set his tablet aside and opted for a quick nap, just enough to rest his eyes before working on the hologram blueprints, just long enough to...

*          *          *          *          *

"Dude, are you reading a comic about yourself?" Clint asked, looking over Tony's shoulder.

"Wh-what?!" Tony quickly minimized the tab and whipped around to glare at Clint, "Don't do that! You know I have a heart condition!"

Clint rolled his eyes and ordered, "Jarvis, internet tab."

" _Of course, Mr. Barton."_

"Jarvis, you traitor!" Tony gasped as the tab came back up. "I am appalled that you would listen to this man!"

" _It is in my public programming, Sir._ " Jarvis replied, " _Were you to keep your private material at home, I would not be inclined to obey Mr. Barton._ "

"I'm selling you to a community college." Tony grouched, "Let all of those new programmers take you apart bit by bit. See how you like that!"

" _I am aptly terrified, Sir_."

Tony moved his lips mockingly before turning to Clint. "Are you done invading my privacy, you Neanderthal?"

"Have you answered my question?" Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Um..." Tony frowned, "Which one was it again?"

"Why are you reading a comic about yourself?" Clint asked, motioning to where the screen was zoomed in on a panel in  _Official Love_.

It was one of Tony's favorite chapters, where the sexual tension was palpable and Samuel was working himself up to telling Tom (didn't happen, by the way). The panel Tony was on was a close up of Tom and a speech bubble where tiny words had been squeezed in-between the figure and bubble.

Tony had realized early on that the author liked to hide jokes and bad pick-up lines in void spaces and had made a game of finding them all. Somehow, he had overlooked this one the first ten times he'd read the chapter.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tony answered, looking at the screen. There was just Tom and the speech bubble, no Tony in sight.

"Dude, that's  _you_." Clint argued. "Just imagine yourself without the beard-!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tony held up his hands, "If this is another attempt to get me to shave, you are out of your  _mind_!"

"No, Tony!"

"No, Clint." Tony said sternly, "I have told you time and again! This beard is my life! If I were to shave a single hair, I would surely die!"

"You as so  _melodramatic!_ "

"Ah, but I'm right."

"Tony, that's not even physically possi-!"

"I'm sorry, Clint, I can't hear you over how right I am!"

"Punk!" but the archer gave up, throwing himself in his chair and swinging it around to sulk in his corner.

Tony glanced at his screen again, giving Tom another once over, but... no, that couldn't be him. The author had no idea who Tony was. Besides, Tony had never worn a crazy suit in his life. He was actually very fashionable, considering what his major in college had been.

No, Clint was just seeing things, surely.

*          *          *          *          *

"I'm thinking about shaving a Nike symbol into my beard. What do you think?"

"I think that you'd get thrown out for false advertising."

"Rude."

*          *          *          *          *

Tony laughed as Tom questioned his cube-mate about wearing KFC Colonel Sanders suit (technically it was a suit).

His cube-mate's response left Tony feeling a little off balance.

_"I think that you'd get thrown out for false advertising, Tom."_

_"Rude."_

*          *          *          *          *

"Oh Pepper, love of my life! Who is that new intern down on floor two?"

"Intern? Are you talking about Parker?"

"That kid has a genius mind! I want it! I want him! Can I have him Pepper? I want to have his brain babies."

"Ew, gross!"

"Says you, Clint!"

"I'm sorry, Tony, but you cannot have babies of any sort with Parker. Not only are you both men -meaning a child would only get half of your DNA, but he's twenty and you're thirty-five."

"I could be his sugar-daddy!"

*          *          *          *          *

The newest chapter left Tony feeling sad. Tom had been singing praises of some new employee down on floor three –leaving Samuel to feel left out, vulnerable, like he had been too late. Tony knew that Tom was just kidding, the exaggerated claims of being the guy's sugar-daddy would have seen to that, but it appeared Samuel didn't see that.

Wait a minute... sugar-daddy?

*          *          *          *          *

"Ow! Jarvis! Why didn't you tell me that the soldering iron was on?!"

" _Apologies, Sir. I thought you knew_."

"Cut it out with that sassy tone." Tony ordered as he patted at his beard. The hairs on the right side were singed. Tony cursed. Now his beard would be uneven for however many weeks it took for the hairs to straighten out and lose that 'burnt' look. Maybe it would be better to just shave it off...

Tony blinked, recalling Clint's comment that one day.

_ "I think that you'd get thrown out for false advertising." _

No, not that one.

_ "Ew, gross!" _

No, the other one.

_ "Dude, that's you! Just imagine yourself without a beard...!" _

"Without a beard..." Tony whispered to himself.

_"Sir?"_

"Jarvis, bring up  _Official Love_."

" _Which chapter, Sir?_ "

"All of them." Tony ordered, watching as the holograms popped into existence all around the room. "Analyze their content word-wise, keep track of everything Tom and Conner say."

" _Of course, Sir._ " Beside each chapter, a small text box formed. Some had no text at all, showing that neither character was in that chapter, while others had a whole page worth –one of Tom's suit rants.

"Correlate these with any audio that you have saved from my work computer."

Following his instructions, Jarvis documented the audio into text form, lining up specific clips word-for-word with almost all of the chapters that had been printed to this date. Those texts were high-lighted in red. Soon, the entire room was filled with a soft red glow. There were a few touches of blue here and there where a word had been changed to hide some detail –like the intern being on floor three instead of two and Tom ranting about suits instead of his goatee, but other than that...

"Shit." Tony whispered, dropping back against the couch. Clint was right! Clint was definitely right! There was no way that any random person could know what Clint and Tony were saying to each other and copy it for Conner and Tom. It had to be someone in the building, someone that sat close to the two or had ways of watching over them. But who could that be?

Going by the story, it could very well have been Steve –the boss man in charge of Tony like Samuel was to Tom. Their names even started with the same letters! How could Tony have been so blind?!

No, wait. 

Tony shook his head to clear his thoughts and take a step back. 

He always jumped to conclusions and that had bitten in the ass more times than he cared to count. It could have been Steve... but it also could have been anyone else in the office that sat close enough to Tony and Clint.

Pepper and Natasha were close, their cubes on either side of Tony with the redhead across the small aisle. There was also that Barnes guy at the end of the aisle, right before Steve's door. Besides, Steve's door may have been open all the time (company policy), but that didn't mean he could hear. It's not like Tony and Clint were yelling their conversations to the skies (shut up, Pepper).

So, someone was eavesdropping and creating a fantasy life in their heads about Tony and Steve. That much Tony knew.

Now he just had to find out who.

*          *          *          *          *

"Good morning, Clint." Steve greeted, coffee cup in hand, "Good morning, To-Tony?"

"Morning, boss man!" Tony greeted with a smile. It felt weird without the usual bristles on his face. 

"You... you shaved." Steve said, stating the obvious. His eyes were wide and the look on his face left even Tony feeling confused.

"Well, you were the one telling me to follow dress code." Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"I..." the look in Steve's eyes was unreadable. “Yes. Thank you, Tony, for finally listening to me."

"Anytime, boss!" Tony said, waving him off as he turned back to his laptop.

"So what's the  _real_  reason that you shaved?" Clint asked, smirk on his face. Not so subtly, Tony looked across the aisle to find Nat's desk empty. Standing, he balanced on his chair to look over at Pepper's cube, also finding it vacant. When he sat back down, he caught Clint staring at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Don't tell Pepper or Natasha," Tony began in a hushed tone, "but I tried to carve a Nike symbol into my beard and... let's just say I am artistically challenged."

Clint sputtered out a laugh, muffling it with a hand at Tony's glare. It took a few minutes for the archer to pull himself together, but when he finally did, he gave Tony a thumbs up. "Your secret is safe with me."

Good, the plan was coming together.

*          *          *          *          *

"Oh Pepper, angel of my heart, how are you this morning?"

"I'm doing fi-Tony! What happened to your goatee?"

"... Don't tell Natasha or Clint, okay?"

"Okay?"

"I was talking with that Parker guy and, well, he said something about not liking guys with bristles, so I just...?"

"Oh, Tony."

"What? Why are you shaking your head? I am serious!"

"About as serious as I was about wearing that banana suit."

"You loved that banana suit!"

"You need help."

*          *          *          *          *

"O-Oh, hi, Natasha!"

"Tony. I see you finally got rid of that rat on your face."

"Yeah, funny story that... I accidentally burned half of it off and, well, gotta keep up my image, right?"

"Only you, Tony, only you."

"Hey! I didn't mean to! I just forgot I was holding a soldering iron! It was an accident, I swear!"

"..."

"Please don't tell Pepper or Clint."

"Of course not... but you will be handing that report in to me by the end of the day in return."

"Yes, ma'am."

*          *          *          *          *

"Okay," Tony flopped down on his couch with a grateful sigh. "Operation Information Dispersion was a success!"

" _Sir, might I enquire as to the purpose of such an 'operation' as you put it?_ "

"I'm so glad you asked, Jarvis!" Tony said, flipping over onto his back, "So, we know someone at Shield is watching Steve and I and making up some fantasy office love romance because of it, right?"

" _Of course, Sir._ "

"They quote us word for word and have an uncanny drawing style that both looks like us in real life, but different enough to throw me off. They hide just enough details not to get caught, but not enough to keep me in the dark forever. So!" Tony clapped his hands above him. "I need to figure out who dunnit."

" _And by spreading different scenarios_..."

"The one that is the true author will use that as my line in the new chapter of  _Official Love_." Tony concluded. "I need to worry about Clint though. He was there for two different scenarios... so if there's any mention of the second one, the one I told him specifically, then he's the guy. I mean... it makes sense. He's got a lot of drawings on his desk, never mind that most of them are geometric shapes... He could be it, right J?"

" _I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to assume anything, Sir._ "

"You and your polite observations."

_"Quite, Sir."_

*          *          *          *          *

The moment of truth came the next Tuesday. Tony had faithfully continued to shave, mainly because the little fuzz that came was 'shaggy' at best and 'drunken night' at worst. He'd have to wait for a good vacation week to grow it out and reshape his masterpiece.

But that was for later, now was time for the next  _Official Love_  chapter and the reveal of Tony's stalker.

_"Good morning, Connor, To-Tom?"_

_"Morning, boss man!"_

_"You... you aren't wearing a suit."_

_"I think you'll find I am, just one that follows the dress code. Isn't this what you wanted?"_

_"I..." No, Tom... It really wasn't. "Yes. Thank you, Tom, for finally listening to me."_

_"Anytime, boss!" With that, Tom turned back to his computer. Samuel hesitated for a second before retreating to his office. He pulled his chair out, sat down, and seemed to deflate entirely._

_"What have I done?" Samuel asked himself. That was his only way of interacting with Tom on a daily basis. Now... now he had gone and ruined it. "I... I guess it's for the better..."_

Tony frowned, not liking how this chapter went. He scrolled to the last page, page five, but there weren't any more panels. Instead, there was an author's note.

 

_A big thank you to all of you who have commented and liked Official Love. Thank you so much for supporting me all these months and sticking by me through thick and thin. Unfortunately, I think this is the end of this story. My muse for this has disappeared so I don't think there will be a new chapter for this next week. I'm sorry if this disappoints some of you, I know a lot of you look forward to this every week and I know a lot of you want a happy ending for Tom and Samuel._

_The problem is, real life isn't like that. There isn't always a happy ending, no matter how much we wish there was. But I have never prided myself in fairytales, only what the real world has to offer. Again, I am sorry if this disappoints some of you, but thank you for sticking it out so far for me. I hope that, one day, you will be able to find the love of your life, hold onto them tight, and never let them go._

_Sincerely,_

_Stephen Grant Rogers._

 

Oh. Hell. No.

"Jarvis." Tony ordered, getting to his feet. "Steve's address, now."

" _On it, Sir._ "

*          *          *          *          *

The drive over was short, Tony fuming and pressing the pedal to the floor the entire time. He was mildly surprised that he wasn't pulled over, but he did have Jarvis on traffic duty, keeping watch for the men in blue. When he arrived at the address Jarvis had pulled up, Tony really couldn't say he was surprised. It was that all-American white-picket fence look that he assumed Steve would have.

Still fuming, Tony went right up to the door, banging loudly to get the resident's attention.

There was some shuffling inside before the door opened. The smell of home-cooking wafted through the open doorway and a towel thrown over the blonde's shoulder told Tony exactly who was behind that delicious smell.

"Tony?" Steve asked, his face a mask of confusion.

Right, Tony was here for a reason.

"What are you-?"

"You!" Tony shouted, jabbing a finger into Steve's beautiful pecs. "How dare you!"

Steve's face grew hard. "Excuse me?"

"Tom and Samuel!" Tony threw his hands up like he was exploding. "Samuel should  _not_  give up once Tom decides to dress like a normal human being for once! He can't just _decide_  that Tom did that on purpose! Especially if Tom didn't even realize that it made such a different to Samuel!"

"Tony." Steve fidgeted uncomfortably, eyes not meeting the raging brunette's. "Tom and Samuel... they're just characters. What does it matter if they don't-?"

"What if Tom spilled coffee on his suit?" Tony interrupted, causing Steve to look up. "What if he spilled coffee on his suit that morning and all the others were at the dry cleaners and so he had to wear the plain one from his friend's wedding back in April?"

Steve's eyes grew wide in realization.

"Or, or!" Tony continued, his eyes drifting down as his fingers twined and untwined together. "There was a storm and his house was damaged! All his suits were ruined so he had to buy one off the rack on the way to work! Or-!"

"Tony..." Steve questioned softly, "Did you 'spill coffee' on your goatee?"

"What?" Tony looked up, baffled, "Coffee doesn't matter to the T, Steve, honestly!"

"Tony..."

"It was a soldering iron." Tony said, face growing red. "It was on and I forgot I had it in my hand –looks just like a pencil, you know? The end does-? Anyway, I thought you said Tom and Samuel were just characters!"

"If they were just characters, would you be here right now?" Steve asked, a small smile on his lips and a knowing look in his eyes.

"Well..." Tony's mouth worked, but no words came out.

Steve's smile widened, like that was all the answer he needed. "Would you like to come in? I've already made dinner."

"Well..." Tony peered into Steve's house,  _his boss's house_ , hesitating over the decision, "if you've already made it..."

"I have." Steve grinned, lighting up his whole face.

"Wouldn't want food to go to waste." Tony answered and stepped through the door that Steve held open. 

Tony really hoped Tom and Samuel got their happy ending.

*          *          *          *          *

"Tony." Barnes looked up as he watched his best friend and boss called another employee. "Can I please see you in my office?"

"Sure thing, boss man!"

Barnes bit his lip against a smile when Steve shook his head as the brunette flounced by, beard in the beginning stages of a goatee. When the door was firmly shut, Bucky brought up the tab he had been looking at, the newest chapter of  _Official Love_.

"About time." Bucky muttered as he read about Tom showing up on Samuel's door, ranting about some characters and what not. The entire thing was adorable and was just so  _Tony_  that Bucky had to laugh. Honestly, he had never met the guy aside from their random encounters at the office, but he had come to know him through his caricature Tom, probably more than Tony would have liked. Oh well, he'd meet him soon enough.

After all, Bucky got shovel talk duty.

"They finally make up?" Natasha asked, leaning against his cube wall.

Bucky smirked, "Come see for yourself."

The red head sauntered over, leaning on his shoulder to read. It was silent before she snorted. "Of course he would."

"Of course who would?" Pepper asked, walking right in.

"Tony." Natasha pointed to Bucky's screen. 

"Is there a new chapter? I thought he said he wouldn't post anymore!" The strawberry blonde crowded in to read. Mid way through, she just started shaking her head. "Only you, Tony, only you."

"Only Tony?" Clint asked, popping his head in. "Is there a new chapter? Tell me, who made first move?! I have a bet!"

"Well..." Bucky frowned. "What counts as the first move?"

"Steve said he wouldn't post anymore, which made Tony got over to his house..." Pepper explained, "There, Tony ranted about Tom and Samuel, but Steve got the point and asked him inside."

"So does Tony driving over count?" Clint asked, dead serious, "If so, I win!"

"I think it's a tie." Bucky said.

"No! There has to be someone who goes first! There always does!"

"Then does Steve's comic count as going first? Technically, he was confessing his love for the past few years."

"No! Because the bet was made after we all found out about it! I wouldn't have bet on something I knew was a done-deal."

"I would have." 

"Natasha, that's cheating."

"Only if the other person is smart enough to see it."

"See what?" the new voice startled everyone. The four turned to see Tony and Steve standing in the doorway to the blonde's office.

"Is there a reason that all of you are congregating around Bucky's desk?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope!" Clint shouted, skipping down the aisle to his own desk. 

"Just checking in." Pepper stated pleasantly as she and Natasha walked off.

"So, you must be Bucky!"  Tony said, stepping forward to shake his hand. Bucky reached up, forgetting to stand as he did. "Are you the one that encouraged Steve to post _Official Love_?"

"Yes." Bucky nodded, "Didn't know it would lead to this though."

"Well, it hasn't led to anything yet." Steve winced.

"Stevie here doesn't like being in a position of authority over me." Tony jabbed a thumb back at the blonde, "Even though I think the whole thing is sexy."

"You would." The words were out of Bucky's mouth before he could rein them in. Fortunately, the slip was ignored.

"Yeah, I would." Tony grinned. "So I applied for a fancy office position in a different department. Wouldn't be able to keep my cube, but I'd get Steve in the trade, so I figured I was getting the better end of the deal."

"You also get a bigger pay check."

"Eh, I'll just spend it on Parker. That kid is going to be the next Einstein, I'm telling ya!"

Yeah, Bucky was sure he was gonna like this guy.

 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews: I don't want to hear "Good job!" or "Another chapter please!". If you want to say either of those, just drop a kudos. Only make a comment if you're giving constructive criticism, something that can make my writing or my world better.


End file.
